The present disclosure relates generally to a system, apparatus, method, and graphical user interface for screening, diagnosing, managing and\or treating a patient with a medical condition. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to screening or diagnosing a medical condition, and even more particularly, in respect to end organ damage due to infection. The present disclosure also relates to a computer-implemented method of screening a patient.
Potentially life-threatening complications can arise from an immune response triggered by infection. Patients can develop a severe response to an infection from almost any medical condition including: surgery, minor medical or dental procedures, postpartum (i.e., complications from childbirth), trauma, animal bites, or infections acquired inside or outside the hospital. Chemicals released by the body to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses. As sepsis progresses to septic shock, blood pressure drops dramatically, which may result in damage to multiple organ systems and even death. According to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, the number of people seen in U.S. hospitals in 2008 increased from about 621,000 in 2008 to over 1.1 million. See e.g., cdc.gov/sepsis/datareports. The number of cases has been rising each year.
Treatment of sepsis currently focuses on early recognition of the condition to minimize end-organ damage and dissemination of the infection. The hallmarks of sepsis are easily recognized at the bedside but initial evidence of sepsis are frequently missed by health care providers who are not looking for it. Also, due to the labor demands of today's health care enterprise, health care providers are simply unavailable to monitor important changes in patient status. By today's standard of care, timely treatment depends on the ability to diagnose sepsis early and entails the following: (i) intervention in the first three hours, including obtaining blood cultures to detect infection in the blood; (ii) early administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics; (iii) measurement of venous lactate as a marker of tissue hypoperfusion (a medical condition in which an organ or extremity doesn't have enough blood); and (iv) administration of intravenous crystalloids (fluids that contain electrolytes). Depending on information derived from the clinical situation, treatment may further entail: (i) initiation of central venous access (placement of an intravenous catheter in the patient's neck or groin to access large bore veins); (ii) measurement of arterial blood pressure by placement of a catheter in a patient's artery; and (iii) initiation of vasopressor medications (medications that raise blood pressure by causing very strong constriction of arteries).